For local leaders and regulators, this report was designed to identify and share best practices and improve building code enforcement and building performance rates on a regional level. The report represents the collaborative efforts of the nine San Francisco Bay Area Counties and 15 Bay Area building departments to learn about energy code enforcement barriers and challenges, identify successful enforcement strategies, and gather data about the impact of discrepancies on building performance. The BayREN Codes and Standards program was designed to identify and share best practices and improve building code enforcement and building performance rates within the region. In 2013-2014, BayREN launched its Codes & Standards Permit Resource Opportunity Program (PROP), funded by public goods charges collected from energy utility customers. After conducting a survey of stakeholders, BayREN's energy code experts conducted a series of visits to fifteen Bay Area building departments to learn about energy code enforcement barriers and challenges, identify successful enforcement strategies, and gather data about the impact of discrepancies on building performance. This report examines the results of that effort.
The PROP Final Report is available at www.bayren.org
Key findings of BayREN's 2014 PROP research include:
- Chief building officials (CBOs), who can use these findings, recommendations, guides, and resources to inform energy code enforcement at their local building departments.
- Local government policy leaders and state regulatory agency staff who influence energy code programs, policies, and resources across California.
Other report highlights include:
- 50% of reviewed projects performed worse than energy documentation predicted, even though many of these projects were compliant with code minimums.
- 84% of reviewed projects contained documentation errors or discrepancies at one or more stages of review.
- Recommendations for developing new ways energy information on plans and energy documentation can be referenced in the field.
- Resources and tools available to local governments seeking to improve energy code enforcement.
In addition to PROP findings and recommendations, this report describes resources available to
local governments seeking to improve energy code enforcement, including BayREN-developed
guides and tools. Finally, this report provides considerations for future programs that could be
developed regionally or statewide to target energy code compliance.
In 2015, BayREN will revisit building departments that participated in the 2014 PROP program.
Each jurisdiction will receive training tailored around their specific needs. The goal of these
visits is to encourage jurisdictions to reach beyond minimum code compliance and adopt a
strategy that promotes better-than-code building practices.
The BayREN team is happy to answer any questions you may have after reviewing this report and can be reached at codes@bayren.org. Additionally, interested parties are invited to the April BayREN Forum, where highlights from this Final Report will be presented and discussed. For more information and to register for the April Forum, visit www.bayren.org/codes/april-forum2015
BayREN is a collaborative of the nine bay area counties working together to increase energy savings throughout the region with Codes and Standards, Residential, Multifamily and other similar programs. The BayREN Codes & Standards Program focuses on improving enforcement of Title 24, Part 6 of the California Code of Regulations, California Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Standards). BayREN Codes & Standards is funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.